


What Matters More

by afteriwake



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Best Friends, Bittersweet Ending, Choices, Dating, Dating A Friend's Ex, F/M, Female Friendship, Flirting, Just Friends, One-Sided Attraction, POV Sally, POV Sally Donovan, Sally Donovan & Greg Lestrade Friendship, Sally Donovan & Molly Hooper Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-22
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2018-05-22 17:06:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6087697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nearly a year after Molly ends her engagement to Tom, Sally bumps into him quite by accident and they hit it off. What begins as a slightly awkward friendship starts to blossom into something more, and Sally is faced with the decision of what's more important to her: a potential romantic relationship with her best friend's ex-fiancé or her friendship with said best friend, who insists she's fine with things and has moved on completely to someone else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Chitarra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chitarra/gifts).



> And finally, I was able to start one of my requests from my dear friend **Chitarra** , who asked for the following: " _What if, after Tom and Molly broke up, and Molly's interests have turned back to Sherlock, Tom's interests turn towards Sally? And while Sally can think of a million reasons why it would be amazing to get together with Tom, there's one massive reason why she can't: she's good friends with Molly, and you just don't do that to your friends. What about that, if it's about Sally going back and forth about Tom being interested in her?_ " So there's going to be a lot of focus on Sally and Tom, but I also tagged this as Sherlolly because there's going to be a lot of talk about the ongoing flirtations (moving at a snail's pace) between the two of them. This is only supposed to be a 4K word long fic but _somehow_ I get the feeling it's going to be longer than that.

Sally bit back a sigh as she watched the awkward mating dance between Molly and Holmes. That’s what it was, really. Neither of them would admit it, or at least Holmes wouldn’t, but now that Molly had ended her engagement and Holmes had walked away from the troubles he’d gotten himself into and cleaned himself up, straightened himself out, there was interest there. It was plain to see, really. And she was forced to watch it while she hung around in the background and she and Lestrade watched their consultant do what he did best.

“Twenty quid he asks her on a date by month’s end,” Lestrade said, leaning in towards his sergeant.

Sally looked at the situation. Greg was a good man, an observant one, but he was reading the situation all wrong. Oh, she knew Molly was interested, all right, and she’d jump at the chance to finally nab Holmes. But Holmes…there was interest, yeah, but he was just moving too slowly. Molly would wait, of course she would wait. Sally knew she’d ended her engagement partly because she wasn’t over the git, but the question was, how long? She gave her head a slight shake. “You’re on. I don’t think he’ll make a move that fast.” She discretely moved her hand towards Lestrade’s and they shook on it, dropping them as Sherlock turned back towards them.

“It was the landlady,” he said. “She’s been feeding her tenants poison. Slowly, and a different poison each time, and something that could never be traced back to her. But she made a mistake with this one.”

“Surprised Mrs. Hudson hasn’t gotten the same idea at points,” Lestrade said with a grin. Sherlock gave him a blank stare and then Lestrade’s grin faltered. “Can you prove it?”

“Conclusively,” Sherlock said with a nod.

“Then let’s go get her,” Lestrade said. Sherlock moved towards the doors and Lestrade followed. Sally stayed back for a moment, and when Lestrade realized he stopped. “Coming, Sal?”

She shook her head. “You and Holmes get all the glory. I need to talk to Molly for a minute.”

Lestrade gave her a grin. “Still chasing that promotion?”

“Yeah,” Sally said. “Got that pile of cold cases to whittle down. Can’t do that without the best pathologist in all of the UK.” Molly grinned at that and blushed. “I’m almost off the clock anyway.”

Lestrade nodded at that. “How about I pick you up when we’re done?”

“It’s all right, Greg,” Molly said. “I can give Sally a lift back to the Yard to get her car when we’re done. We may talk over dinner or something.”

“If you’re sure?” he asked.

Sally nodded. “I’m sure.” Greg gave the two women a small wave and then headed out the doors at that. Sally turned to Molly then as she began stowing away the body they’d been looking at. “So, how badly did Sanderson muck up the autopsy?”

“Honestly, he must have been deeper in his cups than Mike thought he was,” she said, shaking her head. “How on earth anyone thought that was a thorough autopsy is beyond me.”

Sally sighed. “So I’m shite out of luck, aren’t I?” she said.

“Not entirely,” she said with a grin. “Since your victim was a John Doe, he was used by the medical students for practice afterwards. And it just so happens _I_ supervised. I tracked down my students and thankfully, most of them had kept their notes. I’ve got them in the office.” She gave Sally a grin. “I hadn’t realized it was one of our bodies when I taught the lecture. I just used it as an example of how _not_ to perform an autopsy.”

“Mols, I could kiss you,” Sally said enthusiastically.

“I’d rather have someone else do that, thanks all the same,” she said as she got the body back onto his shelf in the refrigeration unit.

“He’ll get around to it eventually. Maybe.”

“Hopefully,” Molly said. “Before I’m too old to enjoy anything.” Once the body was on the shelf she pushed it back into the unit. “I’m not getting any younger, you know. I mean, I _should_ be married. I would have been, if…”

“If you hadn’t still fancied Sherlock, if it hadn’t taken all that time for him to get clean and sober, if it hadn’t taken him so long to realize you’re more than _just_ his pathologist?” Sally ventured.

Molly sighed. “And yet he still won’t act on it. It’s not like Moriarty’s actually a threat. I mean, there are people who use him as a figurehead, but the man himself isn’t going to pop back up from the dead, you know? He blew his bloody brains out.” She closed the door to the refrigeration unit a bit more forcefully than she needed to. “So he can’t use that as an excuse.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t want to hurt you because he cares,” Sally said with a shrug. “I mean, I’m surprised Holmes has feelings and all, but…you bring them out of him. He cares, you’re important to him, and he thinks if he hurts you he’ll lose you.”

She shook her head. “Doesn’t he see it’s not that…simple?” she said.

“Emotions never are,” Sally said. “That’s why he’s shelved them for so long, I bet. They’re complicated and messy and confusing, and it’s easier to chuck them all aside than to deal with them.”

“You’re telling me,” Molly said with a wry smile. Sally gave her a sympathetic one back. Then she stripped off her cloves and deposited them into the medical waste bin. “So, we might as well go over what I was able to glean from the notes the interns made during the lecture, see if that helps you any. I hope it does.”

“Me too,” Sally said with a nod as they headed towards Molly’s office. “I’d love to get the Inspector position. Dimmock had an unfair advantage when he got the other one out from under my nose. And now that I’ve put certain things behind me, I’ve got a clear record and a fair shot.”

“You do. And you deserve it more than those other clods, so I’ll do what I can to help you get it,” Molly said with a grin. “After all, that’s what friends do, right?”

“Right,” Sally said as she opened the door to the office for Molly. This was going to be a good evening, she told herself. She could feel it in her bones.


	2. Chapter 2

They’d gone to Ribon to get dinner that evening and she had to admit, it had been nice to spend time with someone who wasn’t Greg. Not that Greg wasn’t good company, but it was...weird. Not that Greg was interested in her or anything; no, he was seeing a nice barrister who he fancied _quite_ a bit , and after his shrew of an ex-wife she was honestly really happy for him. He deserved all the happiness he could get. No, it was just that she had the feeling he was going to start playing matchmaker any time now, and he was sizing up the men they worked with for potential partners and after Philip the _last_ thing she wanted was to date someone in her line of work again, thanks muchly.

Oh, she and Philip had been a disaster, it really had. Sherlock’s snide comments had been the icing on the cake to sideways glances and hushed conversations. She knew it had been stupid to get involved with a married man, she had, but for a woman in her position, with the way she was, pickings had been slim, The men outside of the job saw her as an oddity or worse, as someone to fantasize over, and the men _in the job_? Well, she knew they called her a bitch behind her back, or worse. Philip had never done that. He’d been her ally, and then her friend. It hadn’t been that much of a leap for it to become romantic.

She’d broken it off after Sherlock’s death, after Philip had gone round the bend. She’d had her suspicions it might have all been an elaborate act; she wasn’t stupid, after all. But she didn’t take them to the lengths he did. She wasn’t about to let it cost her as much as it had cost him. She kept her distance between them now, the few times they chanced across each other. As big a city as London was, sometimes it didn’t seem big enough. She knew Molly felt the same way about her ex-fiancee. She still had to interact with him from time to time and while they were civil to each other, even friendly to a point, she’d say it was still rather awkward.

She made her way back to her flat and then stopped at the corner market to pick up a few things. Not much, just some groceries to get her through a few days, a couple magazines she didn’t have subscriptions to that had new issues out today, a treat or two for helping to solve the case, since Greg had let her know during dinner that the landlady had confessed. She’d just been on her way out when she quite literally bumped into someone she hadn’t quite expected to see in her area of London. “Ooof!” she said, stumbling backward a bit.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, reaching out to steady her. She blinked as it took him a moment to register just who he had run into. “You’re Sally, right? Sally Donovan? Molly’s friend?”

Sally nodded slowly. “And you’re Tom McNally,” she said slowly. Oh, talk about embarrassing, running into her best friend’s ex-fiancee at the market.

He ran a hand through his hair. “I am so sorry. Bit distracted this evening. Trying to get used to this part of London.”

“Oh?” she asked, shifting her hold on her bags.

“Yeah. Just moved into a flat a few blocks away,” he said. “After...everything, I stayed at the old flat for a while but then I got offered a teaching job in this area and decided a new job might as well mean a fresh start, so I sold the flat and got a new one. I’m renting a flat on St. Martin’s Lane.” 

If he was going to this market that meant they had to live near each other now. That was an interesting development. “I see,” she said slowly.

“Look, uh...if you don’t have anything that needs to be refrigerated right away, let me get you a coffee, to apologize for running into you,” he said, clapping his hands together. “If you know this area, maybe you can help me find a place I can get my morning coffee before class?”

She considered it. She _did_ have a long night of going over the old cases ahead of her, and if he was buying, coffee she didn’t have to make at home would certainly beat coffee from her ancient coffeemaker. On the other hand, though, this _was_ her best friend’s ex-fiancee. There was protocol about this sort of thing. “I don’t know,” she said.

“This is absolutely not a date,” he said. “This is simply my way of apologizing for not paying attention to where I’m going and my rather crap attempt to learn where to get a decent cup of coffee before having to deal with hordes of teenagers so bloody early in the morning that you’re called to my school on a homicide.”

She smiled slightly at that. One of the things she had liked about Tom is he had been more willing to smile and crack jokes than Holmes had ever been, once he got comfortable around someone. She’d rather appreciated his sense of humour, to be quite honest. It had meshed well with Molly, and with herself. “All right. Fine. But be forewarned, I have a long night of casework to go over, so your one cup might have about four shots of espresso in it.”

“How about I make it two cups with two shots of espresso each and you take one home?” he suggested. “One cup as an apology and one cup for showing me a coffee shop?”

“Deal,” she said. “Let’s head over to Notes. They make fantastic coffee and if you run out of the house without breakfast, as I often do, they have excellent pastries as well.”

He gestured towards the exit of the market. “Lead the way, Sergeant,” he said, before offering to take her bags. She handed them to him and then led the way to her car, which wasn’t too far away. A small part of her thought this might be a bad idea, but as he had said, this was in no way shape or form a date, simply an apology and thanks. There was no reason she should feel bad, especially if she told Molly first thing tomorrow. And she absolutely would. But for now? Coffee awaited.


	3. Chapter 3

She had to admit, Tom was different than he had been with Molly. Not so blatantly different that she’d thought he’d been replaced by a pod person, but he seemed more...she didn’t know quite how to describe it. Charming, perhaps? Confident? Sure of himself? He just seemed to be a bit more relaxed and it had made the time that they ended up spending together more pleasant. She’d ended up having both of her cups of coffee in his presence, and he’d insisted on buying her the third she planned on taking home. He didn’t have to, but it was a thoughtful gesture and she’d let him.

She stayed up late into the night poring over the cold case files, making some headway, but not enough to really do much without spending her day talking to people to try and get fresh angles on things. But she _did_ end up having a few new questions on some of the autopsy reports, and while Molly hadn’t done all of them she had done a few, so Sally collected the pertinent notes she’d made and after she’d clocked in at the Yard and checked in with Greg to see if she was needed for anything for the day she made her way to Barts, running into Sherlock on her way into the morgue. She nodded to the consulting detective, who gave her the barest of nods in passing.

Their relationship was more cordial these days, she supposed. He had made an unexpected apology for the inappropriate and unprofessional way he had treated her completely out of the blue one day after she had noticed an attempt on his part to _be_ more professional, and she had accepted it and apologized in turn. They weren’t suddenly best mates, but they weren’t at each other's throats anymore, either. She suspected Molly had a hand in all of that, but as it made the entire situation of having to work together easier, she was waiting to find out for sure before thanking her friend.

Once she got into the morgue she looked at the tables to see if Molly was working, but there was no sign of her anywhere so she headed towards Molly’s office. The perk of being the head of the department was she had a space of her own. Sally opened the door and the first thing she saw was a beautiful potted calla lily that Molly was admiring with a wide smile on her face. “A gift from Holmes?” Sally asked, leaning against the doorjamb.

Molly started slightly. “Oh! Um...yes. It wasn’t anything, really. I had mentioned that I wanted something for the window in my kitchen and he had wanted to show his appreciation for some help I gave him, so he stopped by a florist and picked it up for me.” 

Sally nodded. “It’ll look very nice there,” she said, coming into the office. Oh, Holmes really did fancy her, if he was paying attention to little comments Molly was making and buying her gifts as tokens of thanks. “I had some questions on some cases and thought you could offer some insight.” She yawned as she sat on the edge of Molly’s desk.

“Late night?” Molly asked, turning to face her friend.

Sally nodded. “Not even three coffees with double shots of espresso from Notes helped,” Sally said. “I ended up having to brew a pot at home after I got back.”

“Did you have some sort of coffee date you didn’t tell me about?” Molly asked, giving Sally a wide grin. “Give me the details, woman!”

Sally paused. She knew she should tell her. Molly had every right to know. “It wasn’t a date. It was thanks, and an apology? More an apology. But...Tom bumped into me at the market. Quite literally.”

“Tom...” she said slowly. “ _My_ Tom? My ex-fiancee?”

Sally nodded. “He felt bad, and he wanted to know a good place in the neighbourhood to get coffee, so I suggested Notes, and since I knew I was going to need a lot of caffeine, I had two cups before I left, and he bought me a third to take home.”

“I see,” she said softly, leaning back in her seat, her eyes slightly wide. “So, he’s moved to your part of London?”

“Yeah,” Sally said. “He’s renting a flat on St. Martin’s Lane. He’s only a few blocks from me, actually.”

“Oh,” she said. “I...thought he’d stay at his old flat for…well, forever. He loved that place.”

Sally looked down. “Too many memories,” she said quietly. “He just decided he needed a fresh start, but he couldn’t leave London, so he’d take as much of a fresh start as he could.”

“I see,” she said. She was quiet for a few moments. “Is he well?”

Sally nodded again. “Well enough. Teaching at a new school, making new friends...putting himself out there...” She watched Molly’s lips purse when she said that. “But he’s doing well, yeah.”

“Well, good. I’m glad. He deserves a good life,” she said with a very definitive nodding of her head. “You know, if you see him in your neighbourhood, feel free to have coffee, or a meal, or whatever.”

“Mols, are you sure?” Sally asked, tilting her head.

Molly’s nodding became a bit more emphatic. “Absolutely! He can be friends with anyone he wants. I would never make anyone choose between whether they have to be just his friends or just my friends. If you two want to strike up a friendship, by all means, I don’t mind.” She gave Sally a smile. “He could use a good friend like you, Sally.”

Sally gave her a slightly quizzical look but nodded. “All right, then,” she said.

“So,” Molly said, her smile becoming brighter. “Why don’t we tackle those questions you have for me, shall we?”

“All right,” Sally said, fishing her notepad out of her coat pocket. She started going through her notes, listening intently to Molly’s answers, but in the back of her mind she got the nagging feeling that something wasn’t right, that something was...off. She just couldn’t put her finger on it.

But she would.

Eventually.


	4. Chapter 4

Tom had given her his mobile number the evening before and she wasn’t all that surprised to get a text from him that evening, asking if she wanted to grab a bite later. She was a bit swamped that evening, but the next day was her day off. She hesitated, though. She wasn’t _entirely_ sure Molly had meant what she’d said about her and Tom being able to be friends. She tapped the corner of her mobile on her desk and then pulled up Molly’s contact to call her. It rang twice and she picked up. “Sally?” Molly asked. “Have more questions on your case?”

“Personal question,” she said, leaning back in her chair. “About Tom.”

“Oh,” she said quietly. “What about him?”

“Mols, are you _absolutely_ sure you don’t mind if I become friendly with him?” Sally asked. “You’re one of my best mates and if it makes you in any way uncomfortable I swear, I’ll put the kibosh on it right now. It’s not like we’re flatmates and I have to see him every day. I can tell him the coffee was nice but it’s best if we keep a cordial distance.”

“Really, it’s fine,” Molly said. “It was all a bit of a shock earlier, that’s all. It wasn’t like we had a horrible break-up, we’d just...drifted apart. He’s a nice bloke, he deserves good friends and you’re a good friend. Don’t worry about it, I promise it’s all right.”

“Are you absolutely sure?” Sally asked.

“I am absolutely sure,” Molly said. “Besides, I’ve moved on. Even if Sherlock is moving as slow as molasses, there’s interest there, isn’t there? I mean, he does like me, right?”

Sally grinned to herself. “Oh, it’s quite obvious. He’ll admit it, eventually. Just give him time.”

“I can be patient,” Molly said in a warm tone. “I promise, Sally, I won’t end our friendship if you share a few coffees or a meal or two with Tom, all right? Just don’t let him usurp my position as your best mate.”

“Never,” Sally said. “Good luck with Holmes, Molly.”

“I may need it. He wants me to go over to Baker Street after my shift to go over some results and to be a sounding board, I think. Could be an interesting evening, I don’t know.”

“Well, have fun either way. My evening will be spent in front of the telly, most likely, going over more paperwork for this cold case.”

“Don’t let your job scare away all traces of your social life, Sal,” Molly said, her tone becoming worried. “Live a bit. I know the promotion means a lot, but don’t let it be the end all, be all of your life.”

“I suppose,” Sally said, nibbling her bottom lip for a moment. “It’s just...it’s important. When Dimmock got it over me the first go round, and then more and more blokes got picked, it just seemed so bloody unfair. And I know you adore Holmes, but I was under his shadow for years because he’s Greg’s pet consultant. And then when he was gone, there was the taint, and now that I’m clear of it...it’s my chance, you know?”

“I know,” Molly said. “I have faith in you, and I know Greg does too. You’ve been doing spectacular things and closing cases no one thought could be closed, and all without Sherlock’s help. I know they have to sit up and take notice at that.” There was a noise at Molly’s end and a muted conversation on her end, and then Molly came back to the line. “I have to go. I just got another body in. But keep your chin up, and don’t let your quest consume you, all right? Promise me.”

“I promise. Take care of the body and I’ll talk to you later,” Sally said.

“I will. Bye,” Molly replied.

“Bye,” Sally said, hanging up. She looked at her mobile and then went back to her text messages, looking at Tom’s messages. Molly had seemed more genuine in her insistence that it was all right to begin a friendship with Tom that time. Perhaps it really had just been shock that morning. She rather hoped it was; Tom was a nice bloke, better than most of the ones she knew. He wouldn’t be a bad friend to have. After a moment she went to the contact she’d made for him and pressed the little phone icon to call him and then waited. When he answered she spoke. “Tom?”

“Sally?” he asked. “Good to hear from you!”

“Yeah,” she said, smiling slightly. “The offer for a bite...did you mean that for tonight?”

“I was thinking it could be for tonight, if you were free,” he said. “I’m still trying to learn my way around this part of London so I have no clue where the decent takeaway is or where the good restaurants in general are.”

“Oh, I know all the good places like the back of my hand,” Sally said with a slight chuckle. “I’ve got tons of takeaway menus at my flat, you know. Doubles in a few cases. I get off work in...” She glanced up at her clock in her office. “Thirty-five minutes? If I give you my address and you give me about an hour and a half to get home and get settled, you can come over and I can feed you. Takeaway, obviously, but it’ll be worth it. Are you interested?”

“Yes, absolutely,” Tom said. “It sounds better than my plans, which was a frozen meal and crap telly. Where exactly do you live?”

Sally rattled off her address for him and then leaned forward. “So remember. Hour and a half, all right?”

“Got it. I’ll be there then.”

“Good,” she said. “See you then.” She hung up, smile still on her face. It was good to have company, she thought. Yeah, work wouldn’t get done, but at the very least she wouldn’t be bored, she hoped. And perhaps she’d have the start of another good friendship. Lord knew she could use more of those.


	5. Chapter 5

Dinner at her place had gone well, and they’d arranged the next day for Sally to give him a tour of the neighbourhood in exchange for meals, starting with breakfast and coffee at Notes. She was actually looking forward to it; it had been a while since she’d been around the neighbourhood and really seen what was about, so she’d be rediscovering things as Tom was discovering the area for the first time. She had the feeling they were both in for an interesting day.

She was dressed in comfortable clothes: denim trousers, a lavender T-shirt and a zip-up black hooded sweatshirt since it was cool but not cold, and she had already gotten her coffee by the time Tom arrived. “I’m not late, am I?” he asked.

Sally shook her head. “I’m an early riser,” she said with a smile. “Part of the job. Never know when you’ll get called to a crime scene at four in the morning. You’re kind of used to waking up before the sun rises.”

“Ah,” he said. “Well, it doesn’t look like you got something to eat. Let me get you that, at least. Any preferences?”

She thought for a moment. “Jumbo oat porridge with fresh berries and honey and toast with cashew nut butter,” she replied. He nodded and went up to the counter, placing his order for coffee and the order for food. Eventually, he came back with her porridge and toast as well as a smoked salmon croissant for himself. Sally looked at her food with a grin and reached over for it, pulling it closer to her. “Always good on a cold morning.”

“These smoked salmon croissants have been a lifesaver so far this week,” he said, picking it up and taking a bite. “I may get tired of them eventually, but not so far.”

“Well, there are other filled rolls, too,” she said before taking a bite of her porridge. “Variety is the spice of life, after all.”

“True,” he replied. He had another bite of his croissant. “So what are you thinking about doing today?”

“Wasn’t sure. I was thinking we could just pick a direction and walk, see where it takes us,” she said. “It’s been a while since I’ve really explored the neighbourhood. I generally tend to spend my days off working.”

“That sounds a bit like an oxymoron,” he said.

“I’m chasing a promotion at work,” she said. “I’m trying to close cold cases that no one thinks can be closed. I’ve closed a few, but the more I can close the better I look.”

“That’s rather ingenious,” he said appreciatively. “That would definitely make you stand out from the pack.”

“That was my thinking,” Sally said with a nod. “So I spend my days off pouring over old case files, looking at evidence and witness statements and such in a new light and hoping something makes sense to me that didn’t make sense to the officers in charge of the case before. Sometimes I go out and try and re-interview witnesses, see if I can get any fresh information. Sometimes I go back to the crime scene if it’s still there for a fresh perspective.”

“And you do this in your free time?” Tom asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “Doesn’t leave me much time for a social life, unfortunately, much to the chagrin of my friends.”

“I’m sure Molly isn’t pleased,” he said quietly.

“Well, she sees more of me because she’s helping,” Sally said, feeling a bit awkward. “I go to her for technical advice on autopsy reports and for any forensic questions I might have. But she does worry that maybe I’m a bit too focused on it.”

“She would,” he said. “She cares quite a bit about her friends. She always did.” Then he shook his head. “I shouldn’t get maudlin. We’ve both moved on.”

“Well, it’s all right to miss her,” Sally said.

“I know,” Tom said, giving her a sad smile. “But it’s got to put you in an awkward position, and I don’t want to do that. I mean, does she know we’re friendly?”

Sally nodded. “She said it’s fine if we’re friends. She said you deserve to have good friends. I just can’t let you take her place as my best mate, that’s all.”

His smile became less sad at that. “Well, I’ll try my best,” he said. “But I’m glad she’s okay with it. You’re a good woman, Sally. I like your company.”

“Well, I like your company too, Tom,” she said. “You’ll make an excellent friend.”

“I think so too,” he said with a nod before turning back to his food. Sally did the same, feeling a little bit better now that they’d had that conversation. It seemed as though a set of boundaries had been set in place, that Tom knew they could be friends, even good friends, but he couldn’t usurp Molly’s place in her life. And he seemed to be fine with that, which made her feel better. Hopefully, Molly stayed okay with the situation, but if her opinion ever changed she would end her friendship with Tom in an instant, she knew that. As much as she enjoyed Tom’s company her friendship with Molly was vastly more important. They had been through so much more together and it meant so much more. But for now, she would try and balance both friendships as best she could and see what happened.


	6. Chapter 6

She’d hoped the next day would be a day to relax but she was called to a crime scene at four in the morning and then she got a lead in one of her cold cases and Greg had said she could run it up. It took nearly her whole day, but she was lucky in that the lead broke the case wide open, and when she had the killer safely behind bars where she belonged she rang Molly up from her desk at the Yard.

“Hooper,” Molly said as she answered.

“You are a saint, you know that?” Sally said.

“Oh? How so?” Molly asked.

“That bit of additional information you gave me about Leo McMillan cracked the case. I took it to Socco and they were able to get a match with a particular soil sample, and we found the last bit of information we needed to tie his wife’s lover to the crime. He’s sitting behind bars right now.”

“Really? That’s fantastic, Sal,” Molly replied, her voice warm.

“Yeah. I was thinking I take you out to a celebratory dinner somewhere. Your choice.” Sally leaned back in her seat. “Or drinks. That’s an option too.”

“I’d love to, but I’m...err...I have plans tonight?” Molly said uncertainly.

Sally chuckled. “Dish the details, woman.”

“Sherlock is asking me to keep him company while he keeps an eye on an exhibit at the National Gallery,” she said. “I mean, it will probably be boring, but John is busy, so I’m the second best option.”

“Oh, I think you were his _first_ choice, Mols,” Sally said. “Well, you enjoy yourself. I’ll just go and celebrate some other way.”

“With Tom?” Molly asked, and Sally was surprised there was just the tiniest edge to her voice.

Sally frowned. “No, I was considering asking Greg and a few other mates from work. It’s a big deal for the Yard to solve this case.” She sat back up. “Molly, tell me the honest to God truth. Are you absolutely sure you’re alright with me being friendly with Tom?”

“I am, but I suppose it’s just...I don’t know. I’m envious. I’m off to case an art museum, and you’re off having drinks and good food,” she said sullenly.

Sally was quiet for a moment. “Molly, if that’s really all it is then tomorrow you swing by my place and we’ll have the best bottle of wine I can afford and really good...Thai?”

“Thai sounds good,” Molly said, and it sounded like she sounded happier. “And maybe currant swirl cheesecake?”

“Definitely,” Sally said. “I’ll pick some up. So you swing by after work and we’ll have a girls night in with crap movies and good wine and good food and the boys can piss off.”

“Alright,” Molly said. “It’s a date.”

“Absolutely,” Sally said. “And enjoy your date with Sherlock tonight.”

“That’s not a date!” Molly said.

“Oh, treat it like one,” Sally teased. “It’ll be more fun.”

“I’m going to hang up on you now,” Molly said.

“Night, love. Make sure you get a kiss!” Molly’s response was hanging up on Sally and Sally chuckled slightly before putting her phone back in its cradle. She leaned back in her seat again, thinking for a moment, her good mood dimming just slightly. She didn’t fancy Tom or anything, Molly didn’t need to worry about that. They were just friends and as far as she was concerned they were going to _stay_ just friends. She wasn’t in the habit of going after her friend’s exes. But if it made Molly uncomfortable at all, she’d put the kibosh on the friendship at once, she would. She just wished Molly would be honest about it.

She wasn’t sure what to do. She liked Tom as a person. She had when he and Molly were dating. Not as a boyfriend for Molly; she knew Molly’s heart belonged to Sherlock and always would. But as a person, he was a nice bloke. Not a bad person, a little bland, decent. The opposite of most of the men she and Molly usually met. She’d rather wished she’d met him first, to be honest, but had been glad for Molly. When they’d gotten engaged, she’d rather hoped it would work out, but she hadn’t been surprised when it didn’t. She felt bad for Tom, but she knew it was for the best. Neither of them would have been happy and she would have watched them both suffer, something neither of them deserved. Better for them to suffer the break-up before there was a lifelong commitment or worse, children.

Of course, now there was the awkward situation that they were all in that she was trying to balance friendships with both of them and not entirely sure if it flew with both parties, but...for the time being, until Molly made it crystal clear that she was unhappy, she’d continue on this course. After all, didn’t she have Sherlock distracting her? Perhaps tonight would be enough of a distraction in the romantic sense that it wouldn’t matter to her if she and Tom _were_ friends because she’d finally be with the man she’d wanted to be with all along.

One could only hope...


	7. Chapter 7

She’d had the best spirits that the bar Greg took her to had to offer, and she wasn’t surprised she was a little unsteady on her feet when she got back to her flat. She’d been smart and called a cab, knowing her getting arrested for drunk driving would put a certain spotlight on the freshly solved case she didn’t need. But even tipsy, she was in a good mood, and she let some good jazz play over her iPod speaker while she went around her apartment getting ready to sleep.

The knock at the door surprised her, and she half-thought for a moment Sherlock had done something stupid and Molly had ditched him at the Nat to come over and commiserate. Not that she _needed_ any more alcohol but they could skip the wine and hit the vodka, or tequila, or whiskey. She had a selection. But she wasn’t prepared to see Tom there with a small box of what she was fairly sure was chocolate. “Thought you might want a sweet treat for a reward,” he said.

Sally gave him a smile and took the box from him before moving aside to let him in. “How did you know I solved the case?”

“It was all over the news broadcasts,” Tom said after Sally shut the door behind him. “You looked especially good hauling the man out and stuffing him into a cop car.”

Sally giggled a bit at that, surprised at herself. Why was she giggling? Had she had more to drink than she suspected. Probably. But she had company and chocolate and good music playing, and she’d solved a case everyone had given up on. It was a good night and she could be a little looser than usual. “Did the broadcast show what he was saying?” she asked as the two made their way to her sofa.

“Unfortunately not,” Tom said, getting comfortable and giving her an amused look.

“He said he would have my badge, have my superiors badge, bury us in a mountain of lawsuits...” She scoffed slightly. “And then he tripped because he was too busy being a prat to pay attention. That was my favourite part.”

Tom chuckled at that. “You must have felt vindicated,” he replied.

“Oh, I did. Bastard thought he’d get away with murder but Molls and I nailed him.”

“Molly helped?” Tom asked.

Sally nodded. “She was a huge help. Gave me the bit of information I needed to nail him to the wall.” She opened up the box of chocolates and saw they were Godiva. She picked one up and took a bite, almost moaning in contentment before offering Tom the box. “She’s a good person.”

“She is,” he agreed, taking one of the chocolates and taking a bite out of it. “Part of me wishes we would have worked out, but I think in the end it was better we didn’t. It...wouldn’t have lasted.”

“No, and neither of you deserve to be unhappy,” Sally agreed. “You’re a good person too.”

“Am I?” he asked, amusement lacing his voice.

“You brought me chocolate for solving a case. That makes you a _very_ good person.”

“I had considered flowers,” he said.

“Chocolate is better,” she said before yawning.

“Long day?” he asked.

“Yeah, and the drinks after work didn’t help. But I don’t want to sleep,” she said, helping herself to another chocolate. “Do you have plans for the evening?”

“What do you mean?” Tom asked.

“Me. Sofa. Films. Chocolate.” She lifted up the box towards him. “At least until I get sleepy.”

“I think we could come to an agreement on what to watch,” he replied with a grin as he reached for another chocolate. She grinned back and set the box between where they were sitting before getting up and moving to her film collection. There was a little voice in the back of her head saying they were flirting, or she was flirting with him, or maybe he was flirting with her? But she chose to ignore that voice and barrel ahead. There would be a fun evening and she would dwell on it all later. Maybe. Probably.

But not right now.


End file.
